About Me

Gail is the New York Times bestselling author of the Parasol Protectorate and the Finishing School series. She is obsessed with vintage fashion and retro style including steampunk. Gail is also on Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr. Subscribe to Gail's newsletter ~ Miss Carriger's Monthly Chirrup! http://www.gailcarriger.com/contact

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1.31.2011

My dearest Gentle Reader, January is slinking away in a grey cloud of inclement weather and February is peaking its squat toad-like head above the horizon. In honor of this momentous event, I am determined to give you all a State of the Parasol Protectorate report. Those of you who are already members of the Parasol Protectorate Facebook group have heard much of what follows, but I thought some others might also be reading this blog out of interest in the series, so please excuse the Parasol-centric nature of what follows.

~ Foreign LanguagesAll three books are out in British Edition (which are larger sized books but the same American language inside). Waterstones and Kobo have the ebook versions of all three up, WHSmiths has Soulless.The first three have sold to French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Polish translations. Several of these are out already, although I haven't yet seen copies. So far only Germany has opted for alternate covers, but that will probably change.Soulless has sold in Hungarian, Japanese, and Thai.

~ Audio BooksRecorded books released both Soulless and Changeless. Blameless should be out in March of this year. Changeless was supposed to drop to audible, but it doesn't look like it has yet. Hachette Audio will produce the last two books, and they will try to bring them out right around the same time as the print version. Thus, they are aiming to have Heartless out July 1. We are hoping for the same reader.

~ MangaSome of you will know that I am a huge manga fan, so I am really excited to be with Yen Press. They have been marvelous about involving me at every stage of the project. We have decided on an artist. You should be prepared, however, that this is manga with all the expected big-eyes and youthful styling. But let me just say: girl has the fashion down!

~ Signings for 2011My appearances for this year are almost settled. There are a few more things still up in the air, mainly competing events I just have decide which I want to do.

~ ContestsI have a stack of Blameless books I am thinking of signing and sending off to lucky winners in some kind of contest. Any ideas?

~ Other MinutiaI've stopped doing blurbs for books and my own short stories for the foreseeable future, this year is already madness, and I just have to focus on novel writing.I have health insurance (this is very exciting to me but you probably don't care).

~ The BlogI may fall off the three a week schedule, but can still expect character studies, more Dear Lord Akeldama columns, various convention reports and fashion thoughts, as well as a some steampunk stuff. I am curious as to what you, Gentle Reader, would particularly like to see more of in the future. Do please let me know what you are interested in or if there is something I haven't done in a while. I await your comments with baited breath.

1.28.2011

Here, Gentle Reader, I present to you a series of videos of The Steampunk Scholar and I reading from Soulless at SteamCon Seattle 2010. I would like to point out we had no chance to practice ahead of time and it has been about a year since I read from Soulless, and I never have done this section out loud. However, Mike's voices are MARVELOUS. I'm certain all my CA podcaster buddies are busy lamenting the fact that he lives so very far away they can't tap him for voice talent.

I think that's all there are, and I believe the filming was done on a cell phone so . . . But for those of you who have never had a chance to see me read, at least you get a sample, right?

Clandestine Sanctuary says, "Soulless was fun, witty and entertaining. I loved the chemistry of the main characters, how Carriger pictured me a world not only of different race co-mingling yet retaining the whole vampire-werewolf conflict that I love." SPOILER ALERT! Even bigger SPOILER ALERT! Really, DON'T READ THE BLURB ON AMAZON if you haven't read the other books first. Lindsey says, "I absolutely LOVE these books. I loved the last one even though it progressed at a different pace for me, and I loved the first book even though it took some getting used to, but wow- I devoured this book."

Quote of the Day:"For if I could please myself I would always live as I lived here. I would choose always to breakfast at exactly eight and be at my desk by nine, there to read or write till one. If a cup of good tea or coffee could be brought to me about eleven, so much the better."~ C.S. Lewis

1.26.2011

As promised, Gentle Reader, more Dear Lord Akeldama for you! Don't forget to leave your questions for the honored sir if you have any.

@tiffanyreisz asks:What are you, Lord Akeldama? Are you an Earl or a Duke or a Baron? Or are you a Lord in the way Lady Gaga is a Lady?My dearest girl, that is rather an impertinent question, don't you feel? The important thing is that I have status to which I can elude. It should never be addressed directly. That would be bragging.

@_dchan asks:Dear Lord Akeldama: Do you prefer trousers or knee breeches?As occasion demands, my little gherkin, as occasion demands. That said, there is something about knee britches, especially the well-fitted satin ones that is so very youthful and flattering.

@LoulouHN asksLord Akeldama, I have some trouble concerning colour schemes. I thought cream/white and black/navy were unacceptable, but some of my friends strongly disagree. What would you say?Oh dear, but they are all rather dull, aren't they sugar plum? How about a nice gold and crimson? Or perhaps silver and royal blue? So much more flattering to the complexion.

@luvinjrandsmoke asks:Dear Lord Akeldama, what is the best refreshment for a cold night when one is not a vampire?A young mortal of my acquaintance suggests warm milk with a dollop of coffee liquor and a sprinkling of cinnamon if you are suffering from insomnia. Another dear friend is awfully fond of the odd dash of amaretto in her tea. I, however, must return to tradition in being excessively partial to the hot toddy: lemon, brandy, honey, and boiled water.

@MsBobbilicious asks:Dear Lord Akeldama, how can I rekindle my honey's desire? I know you'll have the perfect advice!I find that most gentlemen respond well to flattery and even a tiny taste of aggression, they are so unused to such things, poor lambs. To be wanted, my dear, can never be underrated. Also, do not discount the power of a good bottle of bubbly to relax the morals and lighten the heart's affections.

That Bookish Girl says, "With Alexia, Carriger creates a fascinating heroine that is charming, spunky, hilarious and completely unique." SPOILER ALERT! Series review from Gingersnaps. Even bigger SPOILER ALERT! Really, DON'T READ THE BLURB ON AMAZON if you haven't read the other books first. All caught up, no new reviews lately.

1.24.2011

Dan has an excellent post on this subject he is at a slightly different stage in his writing career from me and I suggest you take a look at his list first, if you are still launching. Here is my take from a wise old "one year in and several hundred thousand in print" using some of his same bullet points from a different perspective . . .

Con Pros

1) Networking. Yes, even established authors with contracts in place and projects for the next 6 years need to network. A fellow author once explained it to me thusly. "I'd been trying to get a collection of my old shorts off the ground for months. I visited a convention where the small press publisher I'd been talking with and my agent were both on hand. Over the course of one lunch we had everything settled. It could have taken another six months without that lunch." Also it's good a place to meet podcasters and fellow authors for blog tours and interviews.

2) Fun. I rarely find conventions entirely fun anymore (with the possible exception of BaltiCon). Don't get me wrong, there are moments of great conversation in the hallways, and interesting questions on panels. But for me they are now mostly work. I like to work so that isn't a drawback. A fan can blindside you at any moment, so I always have to be on form, polite, and gracious. This can be as exhausting as it is rewarding. On the other hand, there is the tribute factor.

3) Vacation. It is nice to travel away from home. But again this has it's drawbacks. I find it impossible to write on the road. I do enjoy traveling though, when I can get out and about the city I am visiting. I miss it from my archaeology days. However, most conventions or book tours all you get to see is the inside of one hotel after another, with very little time to explore foreign lands unless you can arrange an extension and see to the expense yourself. However, it is an excellent opportunity to have dinner with old friends, if you are like me and seem to have inexplicably scattered them all over the world.

4) Education. I don't benefit from this very much anymore. Sometimes I sneak out to a hard science panel, but last year any convention I visited had me scheduled so full I couldn't really make it to anyone else's panels. However there is a lot of conversation education between authors, see point 6 below.

5) Business. At the larger, more important conventions, it's not just making new sales, it's also ensuring that your relationships with your existing editors, agents, publishers, and publicists are working well and smoothly. Nothing beats a face to face meeting to allay fears on everyone's part.

6) Counseling. Absolutely no one else understands what a professional author's life is like except a fellow author. These days most of my time at conventions is spent kvetching in the greenroom or the bar with other authors. You can ask the old warriors for advice, discuss contract points, drop hints as to which houses or editors to avoid, and so forth. Publishers and even agents aren't always so thrilled about this side of convention life, but for us authors it's not only a way of protecting ourselves: there is other feedback. We learn what questions we really need to ask our agents. Advantages in taking different contract points and hits from different houses. Compare war stories over cover art or copyeditors. And we also gain emotional counseling: how to make it through the day and hit a word count, how to deal with the psycho fan, and how to cope with a bad review. Some of my most lasting friends are now fellow authors, and when I decide to go to a convention knowing one of them will be there weighs VERY heavily in the decision making process.

Con Cons

1) Expensive. I'm going with Dan on this one. A convention can, indeed, cost anywhere from $400 to $1500, depending on travel, hotel, and food. Most of that is tax deductible when you are a full time writer, but it is still a large chunk of change. If the convention is a small one and doesn't offer many of the benefits listed above, I am unlikely to attend unless I have been invited (and thus costs are covered) or I can allay many of the costs by staying with friends locally, bringing my own food, and so forth.

2) Culture shock. I don't get this one much anymore. But for me there was a two stage transition of shock to come with, from fan to debut author and from debut to pro. The adjustment was pretty steep. Now there can be fans or even convention staff who get a little too familiar. There is a reason most of us authors end up holed up in the greenroom - self preservation.

3) Con crud. I work to prevent this one by wearing gloves, eating properly and getting enough sleep, but I still managed to catch a whopper of a cold from WorldCon last year which made a pathetic little croaking frog on my book tour. The lesson I learned was never to plan anything back to back if at all possible.

4) Bad cons. Again I agree with Dan, sometimes they just aren't any good. Unfortunately, from an author perspective, these get blacklisted pretty fast. I tend to file cons away as, either 1. really I just am not going to bother again, or 2. I'll check back in two or three years, see if they have things sorted out. It's hard for a convention to rise above that kind of reputation, because, see point 6 above, authors talk. Learning how to predict this ahead of time, now that is a skill I wish I had.

5) Burn out. This one happened to me at the end of last year. I just did way to many events in 2010. By the end even another BaltiCon would only have drained me to a bitter shell of nothingness. So learning how to balance the number and type of conventions, versus the amount of travel, versus book tours, classes and other appearances is also vital. I axed myself way back for 2011 to only one convention a month, and that not starting until the end of March, merely for my own sanity.

Audiobook review from Geeky Blogger says, "The narrator, Emily Gray, was fantastic! The only voice I found annoying was Mr. Seimens but even then he was annoying anyway. The reading pace was fantastic and the nuances were just perfect." SPOILER ALERT! Series review fro Radian, "What they are is a lot of fun. I was hooked from page one, where Ms Tarabotti blatantly attacks a vampire with her parasol, simply because he is being rude enough to try and eat her." Even bigger SPOILER ALERT! Really, DON'T READ THE BLURB ON AMAZON if you haven't read the other books first. Series review from Ginger, "I'm always excited to share a series of books that I loved so much I practically devoured them. This series is one of those."